Woodland area swimmer Matt Whittle has big dreams

Like many young men, Matt Whittle wants to follow in the footsteps of those who have come before him.

Or, in his case, he wants to follow their swim strokes.

The Woodland-born Whittle is a Davis High School swimmer who has gained All-American honors four times from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association. But the sophomore has higher goals. Specifically, there are four people whom have been where he wants to go.

First and foremost Whittle wants to imitate his father Daron -- a non-swimmer competitively -- by attending the University of California. Of eventually competing at the collegiate level wearing Cal colors, Whittle said, "It's always kind of been a dream of mine to swim there."

Next on Wittle's list of folks to follow are more former Golden Bears -- swimmers Nathan Adrian and Tom Shields -- because "they're just the best at what they do."

"I watched (Adrian's) 100 freestyle at the (London) Olympics on my phone on the NBC app, I was just going nuts over that when he won," Whittle said. "(And I like Shields because) his underwaters are his key in his backstroke and butterfly, and that's my key too."

The least known but perhaps most present forerunner for Whittle is Curtis Ogren, the only high school sophomore All-American who is faster than Whittle at his favorite stroke -- the 100-yard breaststroke.

Ogren, who attends St. Francis of Mountain View, notched a time .38 seconds better than Whittle's 55.74 and provides much-needed incentive for Whittle.

"It was good not getting (the top time), because I know there are people still out there to remind me to practice," Whittle said.

Nowadays, that reminder has a higher level of benefit for Whittle than it would have in the past.

"Up till about a good year ago or so, I would get in and go through the motions, thinking, 'Could this two-hour practice be over already?'" Whittle said. "But I've learned to change my thinking. Depending on what the stroke is, I've been able to focus on that one thing (I need to improve) to get myself better."

This new intensity helped Whittle accomplish All-American status. He gained the honor in breaststroke and 100-yard butterfly and as part of 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays. However, it comes seven years into Whittle's swimming career.

His first experience in the pool was, as Whittle puts it, when "my mom threw me in lessons when I was really young (so I would) be water safe." But by the age of eight, Whittle was a full-bore swimmer, joining the Woodland Wreckers.

Once he hit high school, Whittle moved to the Davis Aquadarts, a year-round program that prepared him for entering Davis High School.

While Whittle was born at Woodland Memorial Hospital, he now splits time between his mother's house in Woodland and his father's place in Davis. This allows Whittle to select his school, and he chose Davis.

"At Davis they gave me more options at the (highest) level, going to bigger meets and stuff," he said.

Furthermore, the Aquadarts brought in a new coach, Billy Doughty, in Whittle's first year there, and Doughty is now also coaching the Blue Devils.

"It all just worked out," Whittle said.

Though Whittle is still five months away from being allowed by NCAA rules to have verbal contact with colleges, he has received emails from schools like Stanford, Arizona, Harvard, Michigan and Ohio State. Cal-Berkeley looms as another possibility.

Until he can try to shadow his father and two idols at Berkeley, Whittle is focused on tracking down Ogren.